Ministry Profile: A Visitor's Introduction to the Orthodox Church

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Father Alexander Veronis

To
be offered to Visiting Groups and Prior to Weddings & Baptisms
Especially when the congregation includes non-Orthodox Christians

INTRODUCTION TO THIS RESOURCE

It is important to realize that the average visitor to an Orthodox
Church often has little or no knowledge of Orthodox Church history or,
may have some knowledge, but appreciates hearing it put into
perspective when compared to Catholicism or Protestantism.

It
is not necessary to use all the information below, but select aspects
most appropriate to the make-up of the audience. Most of this talk is
used for to visiting groups (various Protestant and Catholic groups,
students from the local seminary, college students or local grade
school and high school classes).

The introduction tries to keep an irenic tone, purposely avoiding a polemic confrontational, or triumphalistic one.

SITE-SPECIFIC BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In some ways this talk is specific to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox
Church in Lancaster, PA which contains exquisite iconography, large
murals, a unique hand-carved iconostas, very wide Royal Doors, and soft
filigree designs (not ostentatious) surrounding each icon. There are
openings between each of the six main icons giving a sense of openness
between the altar and nave. The icons on the iconostas are full
figured, about seven feet high with gold leaf backgrounds. The Royal
Doors are low, one third as high as the iconostas and are never closed
during services. Unlike some Russian Churches, which tend to keep the
action in the altar confined to just the clergy with frequently closed
doors, our parish opts for openness, with as much congregational
participation as possible. There is a constant flow of action among
worshippers, clergy and cantors. The seven stained glass windows were
carefully designed by a master artist and kept relatively simple with
just symbols giving prominence to the mural icons them. These windows
do not contain figures of saints.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORTHODOX CHURCH(The Church is usually filled with guests at this point)

Good
afternoon and welcome to Annunciation Church. Since some of you are not
from an Orthodox Christian background, you may appreciate a brief
introduction to the Orthodox Church.

Visualize
for a moment the Mediterranean Sea in southeastern Europe. On the
eastern side there is located the small country of Palestine, today
called Israel. (I make hand gestures to indicate the round
Mediterranean with a western and eastern side). This country is only 90
miles long and about 30 miles wide, yet it is perhaps the most
contested piece of real estate in history. Three worldwide religions
(Judaism, Christianity & Islam) lay claim to Palestine and consider
the city of Jerusalem to be holy ground. Over the past 2,000 years,
battles, wars, and crusades have been carried out in an attempt to
claim parts of Palestine, especially Jerusalem. The Hebrews built the
Temple of Solomon there, not far from which the Christians built the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the site from which Christ was
resurrected. Moslems erected their sacred Dome of the Rock Mosque on
the same location where the Hebrew Temple once stood.

After
his Resurrection, Christ appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem and
commanded them to preach his gospel (Good News) to all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His
followers obeyed his command and the Christian Church spread throughout
the world. The Church immediately took root across the Mediterranean
basin in the Apostolic Era. St. Paul made missionary journeys into
Galatia (present day Turkey), to the island of Cyprus, and to Greece.
Hence the region of Greece, from which the founding members of this
parish Church came, has a continuous Christian legacy of 2,000 years.
The Apostle Paul visited and wrote letters to the Philippians,
Thessalonians, and Corinthians, and he preached in Athens -- all of
which are cities of Greece. Later he preached in Rome where he
eventually was martyred.

Five main centers
arose in the early Church, located in Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome,
Alexandria, and Constantinople. The bishop of each of these cities came
to be known as a Patriarch. The Patriarch offered his pastoral
leadership within his Episcopal See.

Jerusalem was the city where the Christian faith began;

Antioch in Syria was the city where the followers of Jesus were first
called "Christians" (Acts 11:26);

Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire where the Roman Emperor sat;

Alexandria was a great learning center in the time of Jesus, with the
largest library in the world; and

Constantinople became the capital of the Roman Empire when Emperor
Constantine the Great built this city on the Bosporus where Byzantium
stood and renamed it after himself (literally the "city of
Constantine").

As
the Christian Church continued to spread, Christians from Rome took the
gospel into Western Europe and eventually into the western hemisphere.
Christians located in the eastern side of the Mediterranean missionized
the northern Slavic nations, the people to the south in Africa, and
those to the east as far as India.

For
the first thousand years, the Christian Church remained basically
intact and believed the same thing. It recognized and abided by the
teachings of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils (325 to 787 A.D.).
This Church believed in a Triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), in the
dual nature of Jesus Christ the Savior (God-Man), in the resurrection
of the dead, the second coming of Christ and in eternal life. All of
these beliefs are taught by the Holy Scriptures and remain the doctrine
of all Christians to the present time, whether Orthodox, Roman Catholic
or Protestant.

The Great Schism occurred
in 1054 A.D. which separated the Christian Church into two parts, the
Western Church known as the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern
Church known as the Orthodox Church. The Roman Patriarch (Pope)
headed the Western Roman Catholic Church. The other four Patriarchs of
Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople headed the Eastern
Orthodox Church.

The
Western Church found the center of its authority in the Pope
(Patriarch) of Rome. The Eastern Church was firmly and historically
committed to a conciliar approach to authority by which decisions of
faith, doctrine, canon law and discipline are made through Ecumenical
Councils. In 1517 A.D. a devout Roman Catholic monk in Germany opposed
abuses of the Roman Pope that were occurring at that time. His protest
came to be known as the Protestant Reformation and began a third great
movement in Christianity. This Reformation occurred in the Western
Church, not the Eastern Church. Thus today we have inherited three
historic traditions in Christianity known as Orthodoxy, Roman
Catholicism and Protestantism.

What distinguishes Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism?
That is a common question.

Orthodoxy
continues to abide by the beliefs and teachings of the historic Seven
Ecumenical Councils of the first thousand years of Christianity. It has
neither added nor subtracted any basic doctrine from that period. It
considers itself the ancient, historic, apostolic, catholic (universal
with an intact comprehensive faith) Church.

As
you walk into an Orthodox Church such as ours, you will immediately
notice the elaborate art and architecture which includes all these
visual images which we call "icons". Icons portray that which we
believe. Two icons of our sanctuary emphasize the Christian belief in
the Holy Trinity. Notice the prominent icon known as the "Pantocrator"
in the dome or ceiling. The Pantocrator is a Greek word used in the
book of Revelation and means "the All Governing One" or "the Almighty".
We see two persons of the Trinity in this icon: God the Creator and
Jesus Christ the Savior holding the book of the Gospels.

In
the large mural icon on the high wall behind the altar, there appears
an icon of Pentecost. Pentecost, which literally means fifty from the
Greek word "pentikosti", refers to the day Christ sent the Holy Spirit
upon the Church in fulfillment of his promise, fifty days after His
Resurrection. Notice high in the center the Holy Spirit in the form of
a dove and the tongues of fire painted above the heads of the apostles
as described in Acts 2 of the New Testament.

In
the two middle panels on the north and south walls of the Nave, there
appear two very large icons of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of
Christ. These point to two bedrock beliefs of all Christians, namely
that Christ was willingly crucified for the sins of the world and for
our salvation, and that he rose again on the third day. His
resurrection points to the Christian belief in life after death, love
over hate, God over the Devil.

The
large mural icon on this front panel next to the Resurrection Icon is
an icon of The Great Commission in which Christ, speaking to his
disciples just before his Ascension into heaven, commands them to take
his gospel to the nations (Matthew 28:19-20).

The
rest of the large mural icons in our nave include Christ welcoming
Children, Sts. Peter & Paul and St. Photini the Samaritan woman,
all missionaries and martyrs of the apostolic period, Sts. Cyril &
Methodius, missionaries of the 9th century to the Slavic nations of
eastern and northern Europe, St. Kosmas Aitolos, missionary/evangelist
of the 18th century in the Balkan nations. On the back wall we have
smaller portable icons of various saints and events from the life of
Christ. We place each icon on a stand in front of the nave on the feast
day of that particular saint. The Orthodox faithful commemorate the
saint in liturgical hymns and prayers which mention his/her virtues and
outstanding Christian qualities worthy of emulation. Orthodox
Christians venerate (not worship) icons by standing before them, making
the sign of the cross and kissing them as a gesture of pious respect.

In
the front of the Church you notice a large icon screen called The
Iconostas. It stands between the nave and altar of the sanctuary and
contains the principle persons of our faith. The doors in the center,
called The Royal Doors, include two pillars of the Church, Sts. Peter
and Paul. The Icon of Christ the Lord always appears in the first panel
to the right as you face the iconostas. The Icon of Mother of God
(Virgin Mary), also called The Theotokos (Birth-Giver of God), always
appears first to the left. She is honored first among saints by
Orthodox as the mother of the Savior. To the right of Christ is the
Icon of John the Baptist, whom Jesus described as the greatest of all
the prophets and saints (Matthew 11:11). The second icon to the
left is the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Icon, representing the name
of our parish Church. In each parish the Icon of the Patron Saint or
Feast of the Church is placed here. On the two doors on the north and
south sides of the iconostas, our parish has included the Archangels
Michael and Gabriel. Processions of alter servers and clergy will exit
and enter the altar from these doors during services. Notice the series
of six smaller icons at the top of the iconostas. These portray the
life of Christ as follows from left to right: His Birth, His
Presentation to the Temple at 40 Days, His Baptism, His
Transfiguration, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.

The large mural icon in the apse behind the altar is called The Platytera.
It portrays the Theotokos (Birth-Giver of God), the Virgin Mary holding
the child Jesus in her bosom. This prominently displayed icon
emphasizes the incarnation, God becoming a man through a woman and the
Holy Spirit. It does not intend to extol the Virgin Mary alone. The
birth of Jesus the Christ becomes the connecting link between God and
humans, between heaven and earth symbolized by the ceiling and floor of
the sanctuary. The unique event of the Incarnation eradicates the
barrier of sin which kept God and humans separated ever since the Fall
(Original or Ancestral Sin).

To
your right in front of the iconostas is the Cantor's Stand. Each
Orthodox Church has a cantor, who chants responses during services. The
Cantor may have one or several assistants. Next is the Bishop's Throne.
When the Bishop (known as the Metropolitan) of the district (known as a
Metropolis) visits the parish, he stands here as a sign of his pastoral
leadership and authority. Every parish priest serves under the bishop
of the metropolis with his blessing.

The pulpit stands to the left. The celebrating clergyman normally preaches the sermon from here.

The stained glass windows of our nave contain symbols of seven mysteries
(sacraments) which include Baptism, Chrismation (Confirmation),
Confession, Communion, obligatory for an Orthodox Christian, and the
three optional ones of Marriage, Holy Unction or Healing, and
Ordination.

In
order to get a more personal understanding of the Orthodox faith and
its worship, we invite you to come to the Divine Liturgy any Sunday at
10:00 AM.